RespiteMatch.com Health Blog

By Ed Edelson
HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Sept. 2 (HealthDay News) — A new way of killing cancer cells has been effective enough in animal studies to move into human trials, researchers report. Read the rest of this entry »

Roberta Friedman, PhD, ALSA Research Department Information Coordinator
While this summary is not exhaustive, it does include some of the most recent advances. If you would like certain news items featured, please contact the Research Department at researchgrants@alsa-national.org
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TIvanhoe Newswire) — A single infusion of a bisphosphonate drug compared to taking a daily treatment of the drug may work better for patients with Paget’s disease.

Paget’s disease causes a malfunction in the normal process of bone remodeling. Normally, bone continuously breaks down and rebuilds. In patients with Paget’s disease, this process of bone destruction and growth is altered. For people with the disease, bones break more easily. An estimated 3 percent of people older than 40 have Paget’s disease. Read the rest of this entry »

By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 31 (HealthDay News) — Federal health authorities today issued a warning about the potential heart problems associated with use of the breast cancer drug Herceptin.

While experts had already known of the potential problems, the warning, along with a letter from Genentech, the drug’s maker, constitutes a more formal acknowledgement of the issue. Read the rest of this entry »

– Dennis Thompson

MONDAY, Aug. 29 (HealthDay News) — One of a new line of synthetic antibiotics is showing promise in defeating deadly “superbugs,” highly drug-resistant staph bacteria that are an increasing source of hospital-based infections. Read the rest of this entry »

Mon Aug 29, 2005 2:35 PM ET
By Anthony J. Brown, MD

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Previous studies have already shown that people who have a heart attack do better if they’re prescribed a statin drug (such as Lipitor or Zocor, for example) when they leave the hospital. Now, new research suggests that the sooner these agents are started after admission to the hospital the better. Read the rest of this entry »

By Roger Highfield, Science Editor
(Filed: 29/08/2005)

Scientists say they are a step closer to developing a blood test to detect the human form of mad cow disease.

Around 180 people worldwide have died from vCJD - variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease - which is linked to BSE in cattle, but experts fear that many more could fall victim becuase the disease can have an incubation period of up to 40 years. Read the rest of this entry »

Aug 23, 2005 4:01 PM ET

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Long-term use of aspirin does help ward off colon cancer, but only at high doses that could cause gastrointestinal bleeding, researchers said on Tuesday. Read the rest of this entry »

Fri Aug 26, 2005 10:48 AM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The clinical benefits attributed to homeopathic treatment are merely placebo effects, according to the authors of a report in The Lancet medical journal.
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– Dennis Thompson

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 24 (HealthDay News) — Researchers have better defined the role of genetic material called ribonucleic acid (RNA) in the operation of the body’s immune system.
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Data suggest Bristol-Myers Squibb’s new drug to prevent rejection of transplanted kidneys is better than current options.
August 25, 2005

The results of a mid-stage clinical trial announced Thursday suggest that Bristol-Myers Squibb’s experimental drug belatacept is as effective as a standard anti-rejection drug used in kidney transplant patients, but is less toxic. Read the rest of this entry »

Researchers say daydreaming may cause changes that lead to the onset of Alzheimer’s disease

BY JAMIE TALAN
STAFF WRITER

August 25, 2005

Scientists have scanned the brains of young people when they are doing, well, nothing, and they found that a region active during this daydreaming state is the one hard-hit by the scourge of old age: Alzheimer’s. Read the rest of this entry »

– Dennis Thompson

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 24 (HealthDay News) — For decades, efforts to treat brain cancer have been stymied by the fact that the brain is protected with a natural shield called the blood-brain barrier — making it tough for tumor-fighting drugs to get through. Read the rest of this entry »

By Deborah Condon

Scientists have taken a major step towards being able to ‘grow’ human lungs for the purpose of transplantation.

A team at the Imperial College in London managed to successfully convert human embryonic stem cells into lung cells. According to the team, it ‘directed’ the stem cells to convert into the type of cells needed for gas exchange in the lungs. Read the rest of this entry »

Alok Jha, science correspondent
Wednesday August 17, 2005
The Guardian

Scientists have made the world’s first pure batch of brain stem cells from human stem cells. The breakthrough is important in the fight against neuro-degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s and could also reduce the number of animals used in medical research. Read the rest of this entry »